


Up, Up and Away

by MidLilo



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Childhood Friends, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Grieving, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Imaginary Friend, Implied Naruto/Ino, Male Friendship, Mild Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Oneshot, Uchiha OC, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:54:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24798763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidLilo/pseuds/MidLilo
Summary: For as long as he has existed, Tamotsu has always stood by Naruto. But as time passes by, Tamotsu begins to realise something, that he isn't enough and that maybe he was never meant to be. Despite how he wishes he could stop it, Naruto's growing up and Tamotsu is fading away.
Relationships: Uzumaki Naruto & Original Male Character(s), Uzumaki Naruto & Yamanaka Ino
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	Up, Up and Away

There wasn't much that Tamotsu knew about the world he was in but he did know some things.

He knew his way back home from the park. The entire neighbourhood with all its shortcuts and winding narrow pathways like the back of his hand.

He could name all the Kage's across the elemental nations, he knew the basics of Academy level ninjutsu and that one should wait at least thirty minutes before going swimming after eating. He knew that the sky was blue , the grass was green and that, on a hot day, the metal slide was a genuine health hazard.

(One needed to only burn themselves on that death trap of a slide once to grasp that lesson.)

But the one piece of information that Tamotsu held on to and mused over the most, was that Uzumaki Naruto was his best friend.

The boy was tiny, with chubby fingers, even chubbier cheeks and had a boyish charm about him that somehow was able to get them out of any spot of trouble with Hokage-sama. A wide, cheery grin and some sincere groveling later and that’s all it would take for Naruto to be forgiven.It seemed that even Iruka-sensei couldn't resist those puppy dog eyes. And neither could Tamotsu.

He held back a laugh at the pathetic excuse of a sandcastle that Naruto was trying his hardest to build. His fingers lacked the dexterity needed to form the delicate towers , too ham-fisted to garnish the grainy royal gardens with the tiny stones. ‘‘Do it slowly, stupid. Otherwise you’ll destroy the whole thing.’’

‘‘Shh!! ,’’ hushed Naruto, hands trembling slightly. His brows were drawn together in concentration. ‘‘ I need quiet to focus!’’

Naruto, at this point, had failed too many times to count.

He was always full of what seemed to be never ending energy. This meant that countless jerky, abrupt hand movements have sent his works of art crumbling down into a sad pile of mushy wet sand. Slowly, Naruto lowered his hand towards the castle, fingers inching closer and closer.

‘‘ I’ve got this’’, he mumbled. From where he sat, Tamotsu could see the hair on Naruto’s arms stand on end. He held his breath in anticipation. Naruto’s round face was scrunched up, eyes squinting and his breathing, shallow. ‘‘ I’ve got this... I’ve got thi-’’ 

The second the pebble grazed the now-dried out sand, it crumbled and fell. The glorious towers tumbled and the stables that Naruto had built for his beloved toad shaped wallet, Gama-chan, seemed to slowly sink back into the sand pit.

Naruto blinked. 

Tamotsu stared. And then doubled over in laughter. It was the sight of Naruto’s face. Eyes owlishly wide in shock and brows comically halfway up his forehead that sent him into another fit of giggles, tears pooling at the corner of his eyes.

At first it looked as if Naruto wanted to throw the buildings remains at Tamotsu’s face or even possibly shove a handful of coarse sand down his shirt. But it didn't take long until he too, was smiling (if not begrudgingly) and then finally, laughing.

This is what it was always like. As far back as Tamotsu can remember, it has always been Tamotsu-and-Naruto.

Naruto-and-Tamotsu.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

It was always just the two of them building majestic forts out of the few pillows they shared between them and spare blankets, frayed at the edges. Dueling dragons and Jorogumo’s, these enormous, spider-like demons in musty alleyways, back to back as they were slowly surrounded. Tamotsu the Samurai god -with powers to levitate and form red balls of swirling plasma in his hands- and Naruto, the strongest Hokage of the ninja village he had sworn to protect with a twig for a kunai.

But that was when they were younger, back when Naruto had no one to build sandcastles with.

Hokage-sama was always busy with work. From what Tamotsu had gathered, the life of a leader was far from glamorous and kept him occupied for hours, even days at a time. There was no time for little Naruto when he had a whole village to take care of. In the grand scheme of things, Naruto wasn't a priority to him. He wasn't a priority to anyone. 

Before Tamotsu and eventually Iruka-sensei, things were..bleak.  
Tamotsu didn't like to think about how things were when it was just Naruto.He knew that Naruto didn’t either.

Tamotsu didn't like to think about how if it was never for Iruka sensei’s initial dismissal of Naruto; the civilians, their children and everybody's obvious scorn and contempt, he and Naruto would never have become friends. 

Tamotsu remembers it all like it was yesterday. He doubts he will ever forget.

Despite the lights from the outside streaming into the Academy through wide open windows, the hallways casted long shadows and the room felt cold. Tamotsu doesn't remember much at this point but he does remember suddenly blinking into being.

He remembers the distant murmuring of happy voices, children laughing and the soft jingles of happy birthday being played from an instrument. Even now years later, Tamotsu remembers a small boy with his head hidden firmly in between his legs, arms wrapped around himself as he cried alone in the dark.

Even then, Tamotsu knew who the boy was. 

Today was a classmates - Uchiha Shoichi’s - birthday. Everyone had received a handcrafted invitation. Everyone but Naruto.  
In that moment, the weight of his loneliness seemed to crush him. It wasn't just being excluded as that was something that he had grown used to.  
It was more than that. He thought Shoichi was, well, not his friend but someone. He would be one of the few to even look him in the eye and smile. To apologise for accidentally bumping him in the hallway instead of bulldozing past him. Once when he didn't understand the lesson, Shoichi quickly and quietly explained the popular trade routes that were found in the South East of Lightning, why they were necessary and how they impacted a landlocked Konoha. In secret of course. Always in secret.

There was something clutched in his small hands. It was a small birthday card. Cheap with carefully hand drawn art coloured in with black and red crayon. Naruto crushed it into a ball, throwing across the room as far as he could.

His eyes were swollen and puffy.

He was a few shades too pale and his orphan sanctioned white shirt seemed to hang off his tiny frame.Tamotsu watched him quietly  
He took note of every precious teardrop that rolled down his cheek.  
It was then, mere moments after creation, that Tamotsu knew what he guessed he had always known. That Uzumaki Naruto was his best friend, that they had no one else but each other.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Tamotsu pulled himself out of his thoughts, focusing on the rays of the sun that was warming the both of them. As they both laid there in the sandpit, their laughter finally dying down, a small girl with pigtails and an obnoxiously green dress skipped her way over.

Tamotsu spotted her approaching. His smile immediately died and an angry frown took its place. It took a moment longer for Naruto to finally notice her but when he did, a blush crept up his cheeks and his smile turned sheepish.

Quickly, Naruto got to his feet, already seeming to stumble over his words in his haste to greet her. ‘‘Oh, Hi Ino! I didn't see you.. erm I mean notice you. Of course I should have noticed you. I mean, how can anyone not notice you,’’he laughed awkwardly, his hands lifting to scratch the back of his head.

Tamotsu fought the urge to face palm as the blond stuttered and rambled his way through what should have been a basic and simple hi.

‘‘We, I mean I-I was just...laughing..a joke.By myself. It was funny.’’ He finished lamely, his words tapering off.

Ino smiled a sugary sweet smile.Tamotsu could practically feel the cavities form by just looking at her. ‘‘Ohh, a joke huh?,’’ Ino leaned forward on her tippy toes, bright eyes focused solely on her prey, taking note of how the flush of pink quickly turned a deeper red as she invaded his personal space ever so slightly. ‘‘ Well, Let me in on what's so funny. I wanna laugh too!’’ she said, flashing him what she probably thought was her best smile.

Tamotsu fought the urge to grab Naruto’s arm to pull him away. This was clearly a setup. A group of girls stood not too far away from them, watching. They were trying- with what must have been minimal effort- to smother their snickering as their ringleader showed off her newly acquired skills in basic seduction.

He could feel his jaw beginning to clench shut as he glared daggers at Ino, who stood way too close to them. It seemed as if any and every time they were at the park, every time they were having fun, just Naruto and him, she and her pack would appear as if summoned and she would skip her dainty way over. It was the same routine. She would smile, flirt , tease and the idiot would fall over his own feet, tripping over his words as if he was five again and not nine going on ten. 

Tamotsu watched, helpless as she drew Naruto in with a practised flick of her honey blonde pigtails, her soft laughter and stupid green dress. A slimy, cold sensation settled itself at the bottom of his stomach, slowly freezing his insides as it wormed its way down. Resisting the urge to stomp his feet like the child he was,Tamotsu fumed silently. 

His chest stung with the increasingly familiar feeling of rejection. His eyes never left Ino, burning holes into her pretty face. Oh how he wished he was able to set her alight with the heat of his jealousy. 

This was the first time in a while that they had been able to spend time together. The academy took up most of Naruto’s days, along with the pile of incomplete homework (Tamotsu suspected that a large portion of it went completely untouched),that steadily grew and grew each passing week. Today had been a rare free day and Tamotsu wanted to make the most of it, just the two of them.

Tamotsu wasn’t able to speak to him, laugh with him when others were around. He recalls a time where Naruto had been caught laughing and animatedly conversing with what appeared to be the empty space next to him. If Iruka-sensei’s reaction was anything to go by, then these people? They'd think him crazy. 

Things were easier before.  
But now? Now he’s getting older, more noticeable. Now others were seeking him out, finally seeing what Tamotsu had always seen. And Naruto craved it. 

Eventually, more often than not, Tamotsu was left by the wayside. Deep down, Tamotsu knew why and a part of him even understood but he hated it. He hated it more than he had ever hated anything in his life. Others couldn't see him or touch him and it was getting to the point where Naruto couldn't either.

His eyes that used to be a warm butterscotch were now a dull, dull grey. Rich brown skin, something unique and so uncommon in the Land of fire, had been drained of its vibrancy. His curly blue hair that once defied gravity, was now limp and lifeless.

Tamotsu swallowed around the lump forming in his throat. He wonders if he can continue to do this. He just- stands there. Waiting. Always waiting. A shadow, watching as Naruto steadily forgot about him, completely enamoured with the girl who had been the subject of his doomed one sided crush for what has now been four years.

His hands tore through his hair with such force that he could feel the strands snag and get caught in between his blunt, broken nails. Grinding his teeth to what must be dust by now, Tamotsu glared at his hands. His once fully corporeal body was disappearing. His fingertips no longer even existed and neither, strangely, did his toes.

He was fading. 

Slowly but surely, he was losing his best friend and himself at the same time. And sometimes, at his lowest and darkest moments, the only thing Tamotsu had the strength to do was curl up in a ball, and cry.


End file.
